Michael Martinez, a Marine veteran, stepped on a bomb during a 2010 patrol in Afghanistan and lost both legs…Christian Bagge, an Army veteran lost his legs to a 2005 roadside bomb blast in Iraq…The stories of Martinez and Bagge are featured in Living the Oath: Warriors Take It, Families Endure It. Their experiences, like those of the other subjects in the book, reveal how hardship and suffering can result in a greater awareness of what it means to be a human being. Despite their inner turmoil, these men and women did not falter as they spoke about the ugliness of war and how they have been forever changed by their time on the battlefield. They agreed strongly with the purpose of Living the Oath, which is to educate Americans about the sacrifices being made by the one percent of the population providing national defense. This is their book, their message to civilians—it may sometimes be uncomfortable but it will always be enlightening.

Living The Oath: Warriors Take it, Families Endure It

Politics & Social Sciences

Ricarte, RaeLynn

Social Sciences

Black Opal Books

America has failed to realize that depriving people of their freedom for a criminal act is the punishment-it is vengeance to require that they suffer every day while they are incarcerated. In Shame: America's Failed Prison System, the author lays out the case for reform through essays from prisoners and reports from judges, legislators, defense attorneys, and even a warden and corrections officer about how our vengeance mindset plays out in the daily lives of prisoners. They are warehoused in a bleak, dangerous, cold, and unforgiving environment that many refer to as gladiator school, and they come out more damaged than when they went in. Many will never get out and can only look forward to dying alone because their families will not be allowed to be present during their last hours. What you will learn from this book is that it is simplistic as a society to expect people to "get it together" once we send them into an abusive system. Many people in prison are broken from addictions, mental health issues, and abusive childhoods. And there are not enough programs available to help them figure out the underlying causes of their behavior. One of the gang members featured in this book says, "This isn't punishment, this is the way we lived on the streets." The same hustles, the same violence, the same "predator or prey" mentality. The art for the book was contributed by four prisoners. They show that, even in the ugliness of an institution, there is untapped potential. This book closes with hope because political winds are blowing for change and there are now ways that people can help drive reform. Americans are waking up to the fact that mass incarceration is not sustainable and Shame is a call for change.

Shame: America's Failed Prison System

Biographies & Memoirs

Fulton Books

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Books by Ricarte, RaeLynn